Mint.com Personal Finance – Review
App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating:
By: Mint.com Personal Finance
Version #: 1.2
Date Released: 2009-09-11
Developer: Mint.com
Price: 0.00
User Rating:It can be hard to manage your finances, especially with many accounts with many different companies. Every bank has their own website, and then there are all your credit card companies. There are plenty of offline budgeting applications on both the desktop and on mobile platforms, but keeping up with the changes to your account, and keeping your budget tools current can be quite a task. Mint, who was recently acquired by Quicken, aims to make this as simple as loading a website.
For those who are not aware of Mint.com, it is a financial web app that aggregates your transaction and balance data from all your banks and accounts and provides you with powerful charting and budgeting tools to manage and manipulate your data. Mint.com web app is free and while the site alone has been a valuable tool for many, it’s use of Flash and large screen layout is unsuitable for smaller mobile devices. Enter the Mint iPhone app.
When the app is first started and you log into your Mint.com account you are presented with a general summary of your cash / debt ratio as well as your overall budget for the month. clicking on Accounts will show you balances for all of your bank, credit card, and investment accounts. Likewise, Budget will show you the budgets that you have set up online and where you stand for each. FInally Cash Flow will show you your transaction history sorted by category or merchant. At the bottom are two buttons: Overview and Alerts. Alerts will inform you when fees, deposits, and large spending happens much like on the main site but with one added benefit; push notification. Mint’s biggest advantage on the iPhone is the ability to get push notifications if there is abnormally high spending on an account, or if you are being charged fees for ATM withdrawals and overdrafts. This can be a powerful reminder, as you go about your day, to be conscientious of spending.
At the top is a settings button that provides a sparse set of settings. Mainly, a switch to activate a passcode which locks the applications from prying eyes if the phone is ever found in the wrong hands, and a log out button. Unfortunately, one missing feature is the ability to add or edit budgets / accounts from within the app. This must all be done within the web app itself. The iPhone app is also missing the amazing graphs and charts that exist on the website. It is clear that this app is designed to simply give you are quick glance at your finances, and not a full client for managing your mint account. Perhaps at some point in the future these features will be added perhaps at least for the iPad. In spite of these short comings Mint is a useful app for those who use the Mint.com web site and will the app being free both on the web and on the iPhone one has very little excuse not to try it. Perhaps it will help you save enough money to purchase more iPhone apps!
Quick Take
Value:High, but only if you have a Mint.com account.
Would I Buy Again:Sure. Its free.
Learning Curve:Easy.
Who Is It For:Mint users that want access to their mint account on the go.
What I Like:At a glance information, Push notifications.
What I Don't Like:Slow to update. Limited Features.
Final Statement:Great app for extended the power of Mint.com.
Screenshots
Article By Nathan Kline
Nathan has been an avid Apple user and advocate since the days of the Apple ][. He has always sought to find new ways to make use of technology to assist his daily life. As a paramedic in southern California Nathan brings his familiarity with technology to the field, and at whatsoniphone.com he brings his critical thinking to he analysis of apps and news. You has also written app reviews for the mobile app site Smokinapps.com.
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